Journalism: it's the perfect major to blend your skills in writing, photography, and communication. Sounds fun, right? Usually, but not always. Journalism majors are lucky enough to be in an incredibly rewarding industry, but there are a few things that definitely grind our gears on a regular basis.
1. Impossible deadlines.
Yes, they're part of being a journalist. Yes, we expect to have them. And yes, we hate them. It can be pretty difficult to round up three to five good sources, interview them, and throw everything they say together in a solid article in under 24 hours...especially when you're juggling 15 credit hours, a full-time internship, and a meager social life. Tight deadlines are just plain stressful, and I think they cause all of us to question our career choices on a regular basis.
2. Anonymous sources.
It's all fun and games until the person you're interviewing asks to remain anonymous. It's a journalistic faux-pas to use an anonymous source, and a lot of editors won't even run an article that includes one. Don't ask to remain anonymous unless the things you're saying are highly confidential or dangerous and disclosing them might be detrimental to your life.
3. Noisy rooms.
Video production is the new norm for reporters. People generally prefer watching a video to reading an article, and videos are a pretty solid way for newsrooms to bring in money. One of the worsts parts of this new requirement for journalists is dealing with noisy rooms. Audio is difficult enough to get right without dealing with the roar of a crowd.
4. Waiting forever to get published.
Most editors are pretty good about reviewing your content quickly. Some are not. I've had the unfortunate experience this year of dealing with an editor who takes forever to review my articles, if she even looks at them all. In an industry where timeliness is key, journalism majors hate waiting a long time to see their content go out— and they especially hate having to hound their editors to look at their stuff.
5. Ignored Facebook messages.
In today's digital environment, it's not uncommon to try to connect with sources on Facebook. The worst thing is seeing that the person you reached out to has read your message and chose not to respond, even to decline your interview request. Journalists might be annoying sometimes, but we deserve enough respect to at least get some kind of a response.
6. Rude news-makers.
When something important or interesting is going on, it's our job to cover it. That usually means we have to walk up to the people who are involved and talk to them. It's not a great feeling when one of those people looks at you like you have two heads and walks away from you. Sometimes, the people you need to talk to for your story are just plain rude.
7. Outsiders who question your major.
My biggest pet peeve is when other people question my choice of major. People love to ask journalism majors lots of invasive questions about how they plan to make money and whether they think the newspaper business can be saved. Pair that with the inevitable insults lobbed at the modern media and the infamous cry of "fake news!", and you've got yourself a really annoying conversation. Trust us when we tell you that yes, we are sure we want to major in journalism.
Journalism is a great major, but there are times when all it makes you want to do is lay down and scream. We get through it, but the things we hate about majoring in journalism are always in the backs of our minds.
